The Brothers Grimm

[Animal Boything]

I'm a big old Terry Gilliam nerd, so I had to go to this one on opening night.

It is a weird, disturbing, somewhat disjointed movie. It's more like "Time Bandits" and "Baron Munchausen" than any of his other work. If those are your favorite Gilliam movies, this is probably just what you've been waiting for. If not, it might seem like a bit much. It got mixed reviews, not surprisingly. At times it borders on incoherent, but if you're paying attention there are no real plot holes or anything. It's just a very strange film.

With that out of the way, let me tell you why I loved it. This movie is full of genuine unpleasantness. It brings out all the creepy undercurrents in old fairy tale concepts, all the things that Disney sweeps under the rug, and puts them front and center. Very few filmmakers who work in the fantasy genre have ever had the courage to do this, and nobody has ever been as good at it as Terry Gilliam. This movie has the nerve to be ugly.

I was reminded of an old interview where Gilliam said he heard a rumor they might put him in charge of the Harry Potter movies, and though he knew it wouldn't ever happen, he secretly started thinking about all the cool things he could do with that concept. He said when he saw what they actually did with it, it pissed him off. I think there's a strong possibility that he poured a lot of that frustration into this movie. It can best be described as nightmarish, but in that special Terry gilliam way that's so gorgeous to watch. The bizarre sets and costumes are true works of art.

It's been quite a while since he's made a movie in this style, (at least, one that got finished) and it's really neat to see what he does with today's anything-goes special effects toolkit. I have to wonder how long some of these bizarre images have been in his mind, waiting to get out. I do miss the vast, strange panoramas that he used to create with miniatures, but the intimate, sometimes claustrophobic feel of this movie has its own special charm.

Matt Damon and Heath Ledger in the title roles did some really impressive acting, and the supporting cast was strong as well. Peter Stormare's character was a little hard to stomach sometimes, but certainly never boring. The always-wonderful Jonathan Pryce got a chance to play a nasty villain.

This seems destined for cult status, like most of Gilliam's work, but the opening night crowd here was large and energetic, so who knows? Maybe it'll be a hit. It's certainly unusual enough to shake jaded moviegoers out of their daze. I think anybody who goes expecting a lighthearted romp, or who takes their small children, is probably going to be really nonplussed, though.